Unlike today's routes that are adapted to vessels under 150 meters, the new 'cruise' routes that will be tested are adapted to vessels over 150 meters, and especially aimed at larger cruise ships. Only a limited number of test routes, that apply to the fairways to Stavanger and Haugesund in Rogaland, and Alta and Narvik in Nordland, are available for cruise ships.
“Once we have gained some experience with the use of these routes, we may roll out similar routes for other cruise ports along the coast," explains Senior Engineer John Morten Klingsheim at the Norwegian Coastal Administration.
Routes for vessels in transit
The service routeinfo.no is specifically designed to provide mariners information based on a location, port or quay. All ports and quays in the Norwegian Coastal Administration's reporting tool SafeSeaNet Norway are available in routeinfo.no, and by searching for a location you get access to routes for vessels up to 150 meters, along with relevant route information. For transiting vessels, it has therefore been difficult to find relevant routes.
"Of the more than 600 reference routes, we have selected 12 digital transit routes that have now been made available to vessels that only sail in transit along the Norwegian coast. The package of transit routes includes digital routes from Stavanger in the south to Honningsvåg in the north. These can be downloaded directly to chart systems on board," says Klingsheim.
The route package contains both transit routes and relevant fact sheets for these voyages, including current VHF channels, sailing regulations in VTS areas and information on VTS services. The Pilot Exemption Certificate rules are not included in these packages.
